1,342 research outputs found
Controlling ferromagnetic easy axis in a layered MoS2 single crystal
We report the effective methods to induce weak ferromagnetism in pristine MoS2 persisting up to room temperature with the improved transport property, which would lead to new spintronics devices. The hydrogenation of MoS2 by heating at 300 degrees C for 1 h leads to the easy axis out of plane, while the irradiation of proton with a dose of 1 x 10(13) P/cm(2) leads to the easy axis in plane. The theoretical modeling supports such magnetic easy axes.open116160Nsciescopu
In vivo STED microscopy visualizes morphological changes of large PSD95 assemblies over several hours in the mouse visual cortex
Abstract The post-synaptic density (PSD) is an electron dense region consisting of ~1000 proteins, found at the postsynaptic membrane of excitatory synapses, which varies in size depending upon synaptic strength. PSD95 is an abundant scaffolding protein in the PSD and assembles a family of supercomplexes comprised of neurotransmitter receptors, ion channels, as well as signalling and structural proteins. We use superresolution STED (STimulated Emission Depletion) nanoscopy to determine the size and shape of PSD95 in the anaesthetised mouse visual cortex. Adult knock-in mice expressing eGFP fused to the endogenous PSD95 protein were imaged at time points from 1âmin to 6âh. Superresolved large assemblies of PSD95 show different sub-structures; most large assemblies were ring-like, some horse-shoe or figure-8 shaped, and shapes were continuous or made up of nanoclusters. The sub-structure appeared stable during the shorter (minute) time points, but after 1âh, more than 50% of the large assemblies showed a change in sub-structure. Overall, these data showed a sub-morphology of large PSD95 assemblies which undergo changes within the 6âhours of observation in the anaesthetised mouse
Plasma Heme Oxygenase-1 Concentration in Relation to Impaired Glucose Regulation in a Non-Diabetic Chinese Population
Background: Our previous study has recently shown that plasma heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a stress-responsive protein, is elevated in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The current study aimed to examine the association between plasma HO-1 concentration and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) in non-diabetic individuals. Methods: We conducted a case-control study including a total of 865 subjects (262 IGR individuals and 603 healthy controls) in a Chinese population. Basic characteristics were collected by questionnaire and standardized anthropometric measurements. Plasma HO-1 concentration was determined by ELISA. Results: Plasma HO-1 concentration was significantly increased in IGR individuals compared with healthy controls (1.34 (0.81â2.29) ng/ml vs 0.98 (0.56â1.55) ng/ml, P,0.001). After adjustment for age, sex, and BMI, the ORs for IGR in the highest quartile of plasma HO-1 concentrations, compared with the lowest, was 3.42 (95 % CI 2.11â5.54; P for trend,0.001). The trend remained significant even after additional adjustment for smoking, alcohol drinking, hypertension, family history of diabetes, lipid profiles and C-reactive protein. In the receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, addition of plasma HO-1 concentration to a model with known risk factors yielded significantly improved discriminative value for IGR (area under the curves 0.75 (95 % CI 0.71â0.78) vs. 0.72 (95 % CI 0.69â0.76); P for difference = 0.026)
Kinetics of biodegradation of diethylketone by Arthrobacter viscosus
The performance of an Arthrobacter
viscosus culture to remove diethylketone from aqueous
solutions was evaluated. The effect of initial
concentration of diethylketone on the growth of the
bacteria was evaluated for the range of concentration
between 0 and 4.8 g/l, aiming to evaluate a possible
toxicological effect. The maximum specific growth
rate achieved is 0.221 h-1 at 1.6 g/l of initial
diethylketone concentration, suggesting that for
higher concentrations an inhibitory effect on the
growth occurs. The removal percentages obtained
were approximately 88%, for all the initial concentrations
tested. The kinetic parameters were estimated
using four growth kinetic models for biodegradation
of organic compounds available in the literature. The
experimental data found is well fitted by the Haldane
model (R2 = 1) as compared to Monod model
(R2 = 0.99), Powell (R2 = 0.82) and Loung model
(R2 = 0.95). The biodegradation of diethylketone
using concentrated biomass was studied for an initial
diethylketone concentration ranging from 0.8â3.9 g/l
in a batch with recirculation mode of operation. The
biodegradation rate found followed the pseudo-second
order kinetics and the resulting kinetic parameters
are reported. The removal percentages obtained
were approximately 100%, for all the initial concentrations
tested, suggesting that the increment on the
biomass concentration allows better results in terms
of removal of diethylketone. This study showed that
these bacteria are very effective for the removal of
diethylketone from aqueous solutions.The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this project by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal and Fundo Social Europeu (FSE). Cristina Quintelas thanks FCT for a Post-Doc grant
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A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons
Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal
of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs
bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data
collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and
we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard
Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots
for b/w printin
First Observation of CP Violation in B0->D(*)CP h0 Decays by a Combined Time-Dependent Analysis of BaBar and Belle Data
We report a measurement of the time-dependent CP asymmetry of B0->D(*)CP h0
decays, where the light neutral hadron h0 is a pi0, eta or omega meson, and the
neutral D meson is reconstructed in the CP eigenstates K+ K-, K0S pi0 or K0S
omega. The measurement is performed combining the final data samples collected
at the Y(4S) resonance by the BaBar and Belle experiments at the
asymmetric-energy B factories PEP-II at SLAC and KEKB at KEK, respectively. The
data samples contain ( 471 +/- 3 ) x 10^6 BB pairs recorded by the BaBar
detector and ( 772 +/- 11 ) x 10^6, BB pairs recorded by the Belle detector. We
measure the CP asymmetry parameters -eta_f S = +0.66 +/- 0.10 (stat.) +/- 0.06
(syst.) and C = -0.02 +/- 0.07 (stat.) +/- 0.03 (syst.). These results
correspond to the first observation of CP violation in B0->D(*)CP h0 decays.
The hypothesis of no mixing-induced CP violation is excluded in these decays at
the level of 5.4 standard deviations.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B- --> D0 K*-
We present a measurement of the branching fraction for the decay B- --> D0
K*- using a sample of approximately 86 million BBbar pairs collected by the
BaBar detector from e+e- collisions near the Y(4S) resonance. The D0 is
detected through its decays to K- pi+, K- pi+ pi0 and K- pi+ pi- pi+, and the
K*- through its decay to K0S pi-. We measure the branching fraction to be
B.F.(B- --> D0 K*-)= (6.3 +/- 0.7(stat.) +/- 0.5(syst.)) x 10^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 1 postscript figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid
Communications
Measurement of Branching Fraction and Dalitz Distribution for B0->D(*)+/- K0 pi-/+ Decays
We present measurements of the branching fractions for the three-body decays
B0 -> D(*)-/+ K0 pi^+/-B0 -> D(*)-/+ K*+/- using
a sample of approximately 88 million BBbar pairs collected by the BABAR
detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy storage ring.
We measure:
B(B0->D-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(4.9 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4}
B(B0->D*-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(3.0 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4}
B(B0->D-/+ K*+/-)=(4.6 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4}
B(B0->D*-/+ K*+/-)=(3.2 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4}
From these measurements we determine the fractions of resonant events to be :
f(B0-> D-/+ K*+/-) = 0.63 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.04(syst) f(B0-> D*-/+ K*+/-) =
0.72 +/- 0.14(stat) +/- 0.05(syst)Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Mode II fracture energy in the adhesive bonding of dissimilar substrates: carbon fibre composite to aluminium joints
The end-notched flexure (ENF) test calculates the value of mode II fracture energy in adhesive
bonding between the substrates of same nature. Traditional methods of calculating
fracture energy in the ENF test are not suitable in cases where the thickness of the adhesive
is non-negligible compared with adherent thicknesses. To address this issue, a specific
methodology for calculating mode II fracture energy has been proposed in this paper. To
illustrate the applicability of the proposed method, the fracture energy was calculated by
the ENF test for adhesive bonds between aluminium and a composite material, which considered
two different types of adhesive (epoxy and polyurethane) and various surface treatments.
The proposed calculation model provides higher values of fracture energy than
those obtained from the simplified models that consider the adhesive thickness to be zero,
supporting the conclusion that the calculation of mode II fracture energy for adhesives with
non-negligible thickness relative to their adherents should be based on mathematical models,
such as the method proposed in this paper, that incorporate the influence of this thickness
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